Homecoming
by LilyGhost
Summary: Stephanie poses a question to Ranger about what home is to him and is surprised, when pushed, that he gives her an answer. Slight spoilers for Top Secret Twenty One.


**Big thanks to Margaret for telling me I HAD to write a story about one comment from Top Secret Twenty One that I thought held some promise for a story. I used Janet's own words for the first few quoted lines and then switched over to what I wished had happened in the book. Everything familiar belongs to Janet. The mistakes are mine.**

"Is this the Batcave?" I asked Ranger, looking around at the white walls, black leather furniture, and cement floors.

_Cozy _isn't the word I'd use to describe the decor, but it did fit Ranger's image. Or would that be his personality? With Ranger, image and personality are probably one in the same.

"It was a safe house until you discovered it," Ranger told me

"And now it's not safe?"

"Now it's a home," Ranger said to me.

"Wow!"

The corners of Ranger's mouth twitched into the beginning's of a smile. "Don't read too much into that."

"As if there's a way _not _to read too much into that. You're not a man to settle in one place long enough to call it _home_, never mind imply that maybe _I _could make a safe house home for you."

"Babe ..."

"Uh-uh," I said to him. "I'm not letting you out of this one. No amount of flirting, denying, or condition-placing, is going to get me out of here without an answer."

"You haven't asked me a question, Steph."

Shit. Ranger had me there.

"Okay, my question is ... what makes something a home to you? You joke about the 'Batcave' being a forever kind of place, but is there actually one? Or have I been looking forward to seeing just another safe house that's only harder to locate?"

"That's three questions, Babe," Ranger said, stalling a little in my opinion.

"Which one are you willing to answer?"

"I can answer all three, but now isn't the time."

"I disagree," I told him. "I think _now _is the perfect time. No one knows where you are, so in turn, no one knows where _I _am."

"Not even Morelli?"

"Nope."

"Would you care if he did?" Ranger asked me.

Now we're getting somewhere.

"So someone is hell bent on killing you," I said evenly, "and yet you want to discuss Morelli?"

"You're the one who wanted to play twenty questions, Steph. I'm only reciprocating."

"Fine. If that's how you want to do this," I said to him, taking a big chance, hoping Ranger is ready to hear what I've only recently admitted to myself. "No, I _wouldn't _care if Joe knew I was here with you, aside from worrying about that information affecting your safety. Being with Joe is comfortable and mostly fun, but Joe and I both know we won't die if we didn't stay together in the end."

"Seems to me, Joe has a very different view of your relationship, since marriage is mentioned every time you two reconcile."

"I think Joe's testing himself as well as me," I told Ranger, finally voicing what has been slowly dawning on me. "Joe likes the idea of being married - some days even to me - but once he actually takes the matrimonial plunge, Morelli will see that marriage to the wrong person creates far more problems than a legally binding commitment can solve. I'm as convenient to Joe as he is to me. This way, we can use each other as an excuse to not go after what we really want."

"Which is ...?" Ranger asked, crossing his arms over his chest like he was bracing himself for a blow.

Smart man. I'd be bracing myself, too, if I could figure out how. I can mostly defend myself against _physical _blows. _Emotional _ones are much trickier.

"For _Joe_," I said to Ranger, "I think he has a few more years of being a bachelor ahead of him before he seriously sets out to find a woman like Mary Lou or Valerie. One who's just crazy enough to be interesting, but still has that driving need to have a family. That's not me. _My _kind of crazy is bone-deep and never-ending. And if I ever decide to have kids, it won't be until my eggs are probably too dried up to make one."

Ranger smiled, but didn't relax his body so I pretty much knew what was coming.

"And what do _you _want, Stephanie?" Ranger asked.

Crap. A point blank question _and _my full name. Ranger's hauling out the big guns here, and I'm not talking about his Glock or a few of his more ... _obvious _... body parts either. Well, I guess it really is now or never. If Ranger can't figure out who is after him, I might never get another chance to tell him what I'm feeling. And in the event something _did _happen to Ranger, I know I'd regret not telling Ranger that I want to be with only him. Of course, that doesn't mean I can't stall a little myself first and try to figure out where Ranger's head is regarding me.

"Tell me what home is to you before I answer that," I said to Ranger.

I couldn't decide if that was a chickenshit move or a brave one.

"Haven't you figured that out, Babe?"

"No. I've been too busy worrying about you, and trying to work out where you were holed up."

"Stephanie, this isn't a new answer. Home to me isn't a thing, or a place, it's a _who_."

Gulp.

"So I _should _have read into that comment?" I asked, trying to figure out what Jedi mind trick Ranger is pulling on me now.

"Yes."

"So you're saying ...?" I paused when I couldn't come up with anything to add to that. "Oh screw it ... what the hell _are _you saying?"

"That wherever _you _are is where I want to be," Ranger said, uncrossing his arms to curl his hand around the back of my neck, pulling me to him. "Whether it's at your apartment, Rangeman, or Hawaii ... if you're there, I'd want to be, too."

"And you just forgot to mention this to me?" I asked, wondering why the hell Ranger hadn't before.

"Babe, we're complicated people who suck at sharing what we're thinking. Plus, there was also Joe and my job to take into consideration."

"I was with Joe because you said you weren't an option. And what the hell does your job have to do with this?"

"As you can see from recent events," Ranger said, cupping my cheek in his hand and tracing my lips with his thumb, "I've made a lot of enemies."

"Who hasn't?" I said. "People try to kill me every other day, but that doesn't keep _you _away from _me_."

"No, it doesn't."

"So why should it keep me away from you?" I asked him. "You always come to me when you need my help, so wouldn't it be better for everyone if we just start out as a team?"

"Maybe."

"No. No maybes, Ranger. I have to know if you want to take things further with me. Joe will eventually move on, then I'll have to, too. And I'd really like to not waste my time trying to find another guy like you, because I know there isn't one."

Ranger leaned forward and lightly brushed his lips over mine, using just enough pressure for my body to take notice, but not deepening the kiss yet.

"I can _guarantee_, Babe, that there's _no one _else like me," Ranger said smugly, pressing a kiss to the corner of my mouth, trying to seduce me by slowly building up the heat simmering between us.

I cleared my throat so I could speak without my voice quivering with need. Boy was that a friggin' mistake, because the soft sound drew Ranger's attention - and his mouth - to my neck. I tried valiantly to keep my head in the game, but it wasn't easy.

"So if there's no hope of me finding another Ranger," I said, my breath catching as _this _Ranger bit down gently on the spot where my neck and shoulder met, "what am I supposed to do?"

Ranger pulled his head back and looked down at me. His brown eyes were dilated, and I could feel him already hard against me. Ranger may still be in control, but at least I know I have a _sizable _effect on him.

"What you can do is call Morelli and tell him that you won't be going back to his house tonight - or any other night - while I text Tank and let him know he's in charge for a little while."

"And then?" I asked Ranger.

"And then ... we'll catch this asshole. And as soon as there is no longer a threat, I'll take you to the Batcave. It does exist. As much as you have been looking forward to seeing it, I've been just as eager to move you into it."

"_Move into it? _I thought I'd just be getting a quick tour or something."

Ranger flashed me a mega-watt grin, nearly making me forget what we were talking about, but then Ranger got right back down to business.

"I warned you that the Batcave is forever, Babe. If you can't make that kind of promise to me ... say so now."

"Nothing is ever simple with you, is it?" I asked Ranger.

"_We've _never been simple, Steph. And time's up. What's it going to be?" Ranger asked me.

"You may not know this about me, but I think every life can be made better in five steps."

"Since when?"

"Since ... about ten minutes ago," I told him, sliding my hands up the muscles of Ranger's back and linking them behind his neck.

"And what are your five steps?" Ranger asked, pretty much figuring out that I'm all his now and doing a little body exploration of his own.

"First thing, I'm talking to Joe while you keep Tank from listening at the door," I said to Ranger, kissing the underside of his jaw. "After that, I'm going to ask for a thorough tour of the bedroom in this particular safe house. Then we'll hunt down this psycho together. When that's handled, I'm demanding a look at the Batcave, where the final step of my new life plan comes into play as we get started on our own kind of forever."


End file.
